Systems and methods of authenticating items

ABSTRACT

In some embodiments, systems and methods provide distributed item authentication. In some embodiments systems comprise: a housing; a set of sensor systems; a transceiver; and an authentication control circuit configured to: obtain first sensor data of an item being authenticated, obtain an initial identification of the item; access an item authentication block specific to the item; obtain a first set of authentication instructions; control one or more sensor systems in accordance with the first set of authentication instructions; compare multiple current authentication sensor data to the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data; confirm that each of a threshold number of the multiple current authentication sensor data is consistent within a threshold variation of a corresponding one of the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data; and cause the item authentication block to be updated to include the confirmation of authentication of the item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/541,563, filed Aug. 15, 2019, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/719,493, filed Aug. 17, 2018, each ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to systems to authenticate items.

BACKGROUND

It can be difficult to confirm the authenticity of an item. It can bebeneficial in many different scenarios to authenticate an item.Authentication can often be costly or unavailable for many items and inmany situations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Disclosed herein are embodiments of systems, apparatuses and methodspertaining to the authentication of items. This description includesdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplarydistributed cryptographic item authentication system, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a distributedcryptographic item authentication system utilizing an authenticationsystem, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an authenticationlocker system having one or more lockers, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary user interface system positionedrelative to an item that a user is attempting to authenticate, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a user interface systemshowing components of the user interface system relevant to theauthentication of items, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified flow diagram of a process of providingdistributed item authentication, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 comprises an illustration of blocks as configured in accordancewith various embodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 8 comprises an illustration of transactions configured inaccordance with various embodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 9 comprises a flow diagram in accordance with various embodimentsof these teachings.

FIG. 10 comprises a process diagram as configured in accordance withvarious embodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 11 comprises an illustration of a delivery record configured inaccordance with various embodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 12 comprise a system diagram configured in accordance with variousembodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary system for use in implementing methods,techniques, devices, apparatuses, systems, servers, sources andproviding authentication of items, in accordance with some embodiments.

Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity andhave not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensionsand/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures maybe exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improveunderstanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also,common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in acommercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order tofacilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of thepresent invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described ordepicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in theart will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence isnot actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have theordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressionsby persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above exceptwhere different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but ismade merely for the purpose of describing the general principles ofexemplary embodiments. Reference throughout this specification to “oneembodiment,” “an embodiment,” “some embodiments”, “an implementation”,“some implementations”, “some applications”, or similar language meansthat a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described inconnection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment ofthe present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in oneembodiment,” “in an embodiment,” “in some embodiments”, “in someimplementations”, and similar language throughout this specificationmay, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

Generally speaking, pursuant to various embodiments, systems,apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to authenticate oneor more items as part of transactions. Some embodiments providedistributed cryptographic item authentication systems having a housing,a set of sensor systems secured with the housing (e.g., an image capturesystem); a transceiver configured to enable communication over adistributed computer network to access a cryptographic distributedledger blockchain database source; and an authentication control circuitcoupled with non-transitory memory storing code. The authenticationcontrol circuit is configured to: obtain first sensor data from at leasta first item identifying sensor system of an item being authenticated,and obtain an initial identification of the item based on the firstsensor data; access, through the transceiver, the blockchain databasesource and acquire an item authentication block specific to the item;obtain, from the item authentication block, a first set ofauthentication instructions to be applied by the authentication controlcircuit in authenticating the item, and a previously acquired collectionof a set of multiple historic authentication sensor data specific to theitem; control one or more sensor systems of the set of sensor systems inaccordance with the first set authentication instructions to capture acollection of multiple different current authentication sensor dataspecific to the item; compare the multiple current authentication sensordata to the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data;confirm, in authenticating the item, that each of a threshold number ofthe multiple current authentication sensor data is consistent within athreshold variation of a corresponding one of the set of multiplehistoric authentication sensor data; and cause the item authenticationblock within the distributed ledger blockchain database to be updated toinclude the confirmation of authentication of the item.

Further, some embodiments provide methods of providing distributedcryptographic item authentication, comprising: obtaining, from at leasta first item identifying sensor system of a set of sensor systems, firstsensor data corresponding to an item being authenticated, and obtainingan initial identification of the item based on the first sensor data;accessing, through a transceiver and over a distributed computernetwork, a cryptographic distributed ledger blockchain database sourceand acquiring an item authentication block specific to the item;obtaining, from the item authentication block, a first set ofauthentication instructions to be applied in authenticating the item,and a previously acquired collection of a set of multiple historicauthentication sensor data specific to the item; controlling one or moresensor systems of the set of sensor systems in accordance with the firstset of authentication instructions to capture a collection of multipledifferent current authentication sensor data specific to the item;comparing the multiple current authentication sensor data to the set ofmultiple historic authentication sensor data; confirming, inauthenticating the item, that each of a threshold number of the multiplecurrent authentication sensor data is consistent within a thresholdvariation of a corresponding one of the set of multiple historicauthentication sensor data; and causing the item authentication blockwithin the distributed ledger blockchain database to be updated toinclude the confirmation of authentication of the item.

Often transactions between two or more parties includes the transfer ofan item. The authenticity of this item is typically one of the factorsin determining whether the transaction will take place and/or a value tobe exchanged for that item. Some embodiments provide de-centralizedsystems that allow parties of a transaction to access a distributeddigital ledger to in part obtain: authenticating attributes (e.g.,characteristics, markings, identifiers, etc.), chain of titleinformation and other such information exclusively corresponding to thatparticular item that can be used in determining and/or confirming anauthenticity of an item. Additionally, captured attribute information,transfer of title information and/or other such information can be addedto a corresponding record within the digital ledger that is exclusivelyassociated with that particular item. For example, some embodimentsprovide a de-centralized system for party-to-party transactions (e.g.,exchanges, sales, etc.) that utilizes blockchain and digital currencyfor exchange and bartering. The system facilitates original as well assecondary sales and services exchanges. The system provides significantcost advantages, which can take advantage of inherent benefits ofcryptocurrencies. Further, the authentication system and/orauthentication service provider can acquire a benefit and/or revenue forauthentication of an item, providing access to the ledger authenticationinformation and/or incorporating updates to the ledger authenticationinformation following the completion or failure to complete atransaction. In some instances, the authentication system and/orauthenticating service provide can utilize its own cryptocurrency (e.g.,retail service provider currency) and the service provider can collect afee for facilitating these transactions, which may in some instances beencoding into the cryptocurrency.

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary itemauthentication system 100, in accordance with some embodiments. Theauthentication system 100 includes at least one authentication controlcircuit 104, a set of one or more sensor systems 106 and one or morecommunication transceivers 108. Typically, the authentication system 100includes a housing 102 with which the authentication control circuit,one or more of the sensors systems and/or the communication transceivercan be cooperated. The authentication control circuit 104 iscommunicatively coupled via one or more communication system networks,buses or the like with the sensor systems 106 and the one or moretransceivers 108 providing control over the sensor systems andtransceivers and receiving corresponding sensor information from thesensor systems and communications via the transceiver from externalsystems and/or devices. The authentication control circuit 104 includesand/or couples with non-transitory memory that stores code, software,applications and the like to be implemented by the authenticationcontrol circuit enabling the authentication control circuit to implementone or more functions to provide authentication of items.

The housing can include one or more interior item cavities 112configured to receive an item to be authenticated. Some embodimentsinclude one or more doors, movable panels or the like to at leasttemporarily close the item cavity 112. In some implementations, one ormore door locks 116 are included that can be activated to secure theitem within the corresponding one of the one or more item cavities 112.The lock may be activated by the authentication control circuit 104,manually be a user, wirelessly via one or more external devices (e.g., auser's smartphone, tablet, fob, RFID card, or other such user interfacesystem), other such methods or a combination of two or more of suchmethods.

The one or more authentication control circuits 104 are secured with thehousing 102, and one or more of the sets of sensor systems 106 arepositioned relative to one or more of the item cavities 112 to acquirerelevant sensor information corresponding to an item 126 placed withinthe corresponding item cavity. The sensor systems can include one ormore image capturing systems 106 a (e.g., still imaging systems and/orvideo systems), hyperspectral imaging systems, color and/or lightspectrometers 106 b, radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag readers 106c, bar code reader systems 106 d, weight sensor systems 106 e, distancemeasurement systems, scanning systems (2D and/or 3D scanning system),other such sensor systems, and typically two or more of such types ofsensor systems.

The transceiver 108 is configured to provide wired and/or wirelesscommunication over one or more external distributed computer and/orcommunication networks 118 (e.g., WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi, Cellular, Bluetooth,satellite, etc.) to access at least one or more cryptographicdistributed ledger blockchain database sources 120, servers and/or othersuch nodes. The blockchain database sources 120, servers and/or othersuch nodes are often multiple independent nodes. As further describedbelow, the distributed database and shared ledger database generallyrefer to methods of peer-to-peer record keeping and authentication inwhich records are kept at multiple different nodes (and oftenindependent nodes) in the peer-to-peer network instead of kept at atrusted party. A blockchain may generally refer to a distributeddatabase that maintains a growing list of records in which each blockcontains a hash of some or all previous records in a particular chain tosecure the record from tampering and unauthorized revision. In someembodiments, a block in a blockchain may include one or more of a datahash of one or more previous blocks, a timestamp, a cryptographic nonce,a proof standard, a data descriptor to support the security and/orincentive features of the system, and in some instances addition dataincorporated at the timestamp (e.g., authentication information, itemidentifier information, participant identifier information,authentication system identifier information, etc.).

In some embodiments, the authentication system 100 includes one or moremotors 122, hydraulics, and/or other such mechanisms that are cooperatedwith one or more supports 124 (e.g., platform, plate, hook, etc.). Theauthentication control circuit can communicatively couple with the oneor more motors (or a motor control system of the motor) to control theone or more motors, magnetic systems, hydraulics, cable systems, and thelike in physically manipulating an item 126 and/or an orientation of theitem within the item cavity 112. Further, in some embodiments, one ormore motors, hydraulics and/or other such mechanisms can additionally oralternatively control the physical position and/or movement of one ormore sensor systems relative to the item cavity to control the relativeorientation of one or more sensor systems. Additionally oralternatively, one or more manipulation systems 130 (e.g., extendablearms, bars, beams, grippers, end effectors, crane systems, cableoperated systems, and/or other such manipulation systems) can beincluded or cooperated with one or more of the item cavities 112 tointeract with and manipulate the item 126 and/or orientation of theitem. Typically, such manipulation systems include one or more motors,hydraulics, magnetic systems, cable systems, etc. that can be activatedto cause the manipulation system to engage and manipulate the item. Insome instances, the manipulation system may include a separate controlcircuit that controls the motor in response to input from theauthentication control circuit 104, while in other instances, theauthentication control circuit directs the motors, hydraulics and/orother such systems to cause movement of the manipulation system.Additionally or alternatively, the authentication system 100 and/or oneor more sensor systems 106 of the authentication system 100 may includeone or more motors, magnetic systems, hydraulics, etc. that can be usedto move and/or otherwise adjust one or more of the sensor systems 106 orportions of the sensor systems relative to the item to achieve a desiredorientation of the sensor system or portion of the sensor systemrelative to the item being authenticated.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a distributedcryptographic item authentication system 200 utilizing theauthentication system 100, in accordance with some embodiments. Thesystem 200 includes at least one and typically multiple differentauthentication systems 100, which may be distributed at multipledifferent and geographically distributed locations (e.g., differentlocations within a single city, different cities, different states,different countries, etc.). For example, the authentication systems 100may be associated with a retailer having multiple different retailstores at multiple different locations, with the authentication systemsbeing placed at one or more of the retail stores. The authenticationsystems 100 communicatively couple with the external network 118 and canwired and/or wirelessly electronically access and/or be accessed by theblockchain database sources 120. In some embodiments, one or more usersattempting to authenticate an item may utilize their own personal userinterface system 202 (e.g., smartphone, tablet, computer, etc.) tocommunicate with one or more authentication systems 100 and/or theblockchain database sources 120. Further, one or more item sources 204(e.g., manufacturers, distributors, etc.) may communicate over thedistributed network 118 with the blockchain database sources. Stillfurther, in some embodiments, some or all of an authentication system100 may be implemented within a user interface system 202 as describedfurther below. In some implementations, the system may include one ormore purchasing systems 206 and/or point of sale systems to enable moneyto be paid. For example, a purchasing system 206 may be communicativelycoupled with the authentication control circuit 104 and cancommunication payment information to the authentication control circuit(e.g., payment through a credit card, bank debit, or other such paymentfrom one or more parties or third parties to an authentication and/ortransaction). Some embodiments may include one or more remoteauthentication processing systems 210 that are in communication with oneor more authentication systems 100. These authentication processingsystems can provide at least some of the computational processing ofsensor data relative to the collections of one or more sets of historicauthentication sensor data specific to the item accessed from the itemauthentication block exclusively associated with that item. One or moreauthentication system 100 may communicate some or all of the sensor datato one or more authentication processing system 210 that can performsome of the authentication processing (e.g., image processing, imagecomparison, other such comparisons, and the like).

As introduced above, the authentication control circuit 104 obtainssensor data from one or more sensor systems 106. For example, in someimplementations, the authentication control circuit 104 obtainsidentifying sensor data from one or more item identifying sensor systems106 (e.g., RFID tag reader system 106 c, barcode reader system 106 d,imaging system 106 a having image recognition processing system, etc.)of an item 126 being authenticated. For example, an RFID tag readersystem 106 c and/or barcode reader/scanner system 106 d may bepositioned adjacent the opening to the item cavity to detect identifyinginformation as the item is placed into the item cavity. Additionally oralternatively, one or more exterior sensor systems (e.g., an RFID tagreader 106 c, camera, and/or barcode reader system 106 d may bepositioned exterior of the housing) and the authentication system 100may instruct a user to position the item relative to the exterior sensorsystem to capture identifying information prior to the item being placedwithin the item cavity. An initial identification of the item can beobtained based on the identifying sensor data. In some embodiments, theidentifying information is extracted from the identifying sensor data(e.g., an RFID identifier, a barcode number, a serial number, etc.),while in other instances the identifying sensor data may be usedrelative to one or more databases and/or communicated to a third partyservice and/or the blockchain database source 120 to obtain theidentifying information. In some embodiments, this identifyinginformation is used, at least in part to access an appropriateblockchain block or record corresponding to that item at the blockchaindatabase source 120. Further, an identification of the item and/or someidentifying information may be inputted by a user through a userinterface 132 of the authentication system (e.g., touch screen,keyboard, mouse, touchpad, buttons, etc.), and/or communicated from auser's smartphone, tablet, or other user interface system (e.g., throughan APP on the smartphone, through direct wireless communication (e.g.,Bluetooth, etc.), cellular, or the like).

The authentication control circuit can access, through the transceiver108, the one or more blockchain database sources 120 to acquire and/oraccess an item authentication block specific to the item. This istypically acquired based at least in part on the identifier informationof the item being authenticated. From the item authentication block, aset of one or more authentication instructions can be obtained that areto be applied by the authentication control circuit in authenticatingthe item. Further, one or more previously acquired collections of setsof multiple historic authentication sensor data specific to the item canbe accessed from the item authentication block. Based on the set ofauthentication instructions, the authentication control circuit 104 cancontrol one or more sensor systems of the set of sensor systems 106,and/or motors 122 in accordance with the set of authenticationinstructions to capture a collection of multiple different currentauthentication sensor data specific to the item. In some embodiments,for example, images and/or video content may be captured by one or morecameras, a 3D scan may be acquired of the item, a weight of the item maybe acquired, and/or other such sensor information. Similarly, theimaging systems maybe controlled to get images at multiple differentzoomed levels. The zoom level may be controlled based on imageprocessing and recognition of specific parts of the item. For example,the camera systems may be controlled and/or moved relative to the item,and/or the item may be moved to a desired portion of the item to alignwith a particular camera system, and the camera can be zoomed in to geta desired zoomed in image of the portion of the item. The zoomingprocess may include repeated physical and/or orientation adjustments tothe item and/or the imaging systems as the zoom is implemented to ensurethe desired portion of the item is aligned with the field of view of theimaging system as it continues to zoom. Again, the adjustment oforientation can be based on feedback from one or more sensor systems,such as repeated or continued image processing and analysis, changes inweight distribution, changes in distance measurements, etc. Suchinformation to achieve the desired alignment and zooming may be providedin the block or acquired from a separate remote server or other source,which is typically based on an identifier of the item.

In many instances, the authentication instructions define a sequence ofsensor systems 106 to be activated in obtaining the authenticationinformation. As such, a set of authentication instructions can specify asequence or order in which to implement and/or active multiple sensorsystems of the set of sensor systems. The authentication control circuitin controlling the one or more sensor systems can activate, inaccordance with the specified sequence, each of a set of some or all ofthe multiple sensor systems as specified by the set of authenticationinstructions in capturing at least some of the current authenticationsensor data. Again, the sequence may be defined in the block for thecurrent item, or may be specified in instructions received from a remotesource (e.g., manufacturer, third party authentication entity, etc.).For example, the sequence may instruct that imaging systems areactivated at a first zoom level, followed by activation of one or moremotors based on a detected orientation of the item to move the item to adesired orientation, and following the movement the imaging system canbe operated to capture imaging content at a second zoom level, followedby an activation of a color spectrometer, followed by acquiring weightsensor data, which may be followed by one or more other sequence steps.The sequence is dependent on the available sensor systems 106, availableitem manipulation systems, the item being authenticated and the like. Insome instances, for example, the authentication control circuit detectsone or more sequence steps that cannot be performed by the particularauthentication system (e.g., does not include a particular sensorsystem), and skips until a following sequence step that can beperformed. A notification may be presented to the user and/orincorporated into the item authentication block for that item. Suchmissing sensor data may affect an authentication and/or a level ofauthentication achieved by the system.

The multiple current authentication sensor data can be compared to theone or more sets of multiple historic authentication sensor data. Insome embodiments, the authentication processing includes accessing a setof one or more authentication rules that when applied enhance theoperation of the authentication control circuit 104 and authenticationprocess. In applying one or more of the authentication rules, themultiple current authentication sensor data can be compared to the oneor more sets of multiple historic authentication sensor data accessedthrough the blockchain database sources. Applying the one or moreauthentication rules typically includes evaluating the comparisons ofsensor data to one or more corresponding thresholds. Based on thecomparison, the authentication control circuit can confirm, inauthenticating the item, whether and/or when each of a threshold numberof the multiple current authentication sensor data is consistent withina threshold variation of a corresponding one of the set of multiplehistoric authentication sensor data.

In some embodiments, an original set of historic authentication sensordata generated by an original source of the item (e.g., a manufacturer,distributor, retailer, etc.) may be incorporated into the historicauthentication sensor data within the item authentication block specificto the item. Such original set of historic authentication sensor datamay be generated by an original source of the item (e.g., manufacturer,distributor, etc.). For example, during manufacturing and/or prior toshipment of an item, the manufacturer can accumulate relevant sensordata and initiate an item authentication block for that item into whichthe relevant sensor data is appended. Additional information can beincorporated into the authentication block over time, such as but notlimited to shipment date, receipt date, updated and/or authenticationinformation at the time of receipt (e.g., additional sensor data,authentication determination, name of receiving entity, etc.), saledate, authentication information at the time of sale, and other suchdata. Subsequent authentications can be performed and the itemauthentication block specific to that item can be updated over timeproviding a record or authenticity and/or chain of ownership. As such,in some instances, the item authentication block of a block chain caninclude original authentication data from a manufacturer, distributor orother source, as well as subsequent information incorporated over time.

Based on the comparison between current and historic information, thecontrol circuit can confirm, in authenticating the item, whether and/orwhen each of a threshold number of the multiple current authenticationsensor data is consistent within a threshold variation of acorresponding one of the set of multiple historic authentication sensordata. The thresholds are dependent on the type of sensor. In someapplications, the thresholds may vary depending on the capabilities ofthe sensor systems being used. For example, a greater margin of errormay be available when sensor systems provide a lower level of accuracy.However, such variations in threshold may further be dependent on anumber of sensor systems available to acquire authenticating sensordata. As such, some embodiments accept a greater margin of error betweencurrent and historic sensor data when there are a greater number ofdifferent types of sensor data available to evaluate in determining anauthentication of an item. Similarly, the thresholds may be increasedand/or a reduced margin of error may be allowed with a lower number oftypes of sensor data are available for consideration. Still further,however, the threshold may vary and/or a number of types of sensor dataused to determine an authentication of an item may vary based on typesof one or more sensor systems used to obtain the sensor data. When amore accurate sensor system is used, for example, that provides a higherdegree of reliability of sensor data, the number of different types ofsensor data needed to determine an authentication can be reduced.

Further, in some embodiments, the control circuit can cause the itemauthentication block within the distributed ledger blockchain databaseto be updated to include the confirmation of authentication of the item,and/or other relevant information (e.g., the multiple currentauthentication sensor data, identifying information of one or more ofthe users and/or parties to a transaction, and/or other suchinformation). In updating the block, the authentication control circuitcan in some applications distribute the multiple current authenticationsensor data and cause the item authentication block within thedistributed ledger blockchain database to be updated to include themultiple current authentication sensor data to be available in asubsequent authentication of the item. Further, in some embodiments, allof the sequence steps of a set of authentication instructions may not becompleted. For example, the control circuit may implement the comparisonof sensor data as the sensor data is acquired, and once the thresholdnumber of sensor data is confirmed as being within the thresholdvariation of a corresponding one of the set of multiple historicauthentication sensor data resulting in a threshold confidence that theitem is authenticated or confirmed to be a different item, the controlcircuit may interrupt the sequence prior to completing the sequence.Similarly, the control circuit may interrupt the implementation of oneor more of the authentication instructions and/or sequence ofinstructions in response to confirming a threshold inconsistency isdetected for a threshold number of sensor data of a corresponding one ofthe set of multiple historic authentication sensor data, confirming thatthe item is not the item attempting to be authenticating and/orconfirming that authentication of the item cannot be confirmed.

The system has access to information about the authentication attributesbeing considered. Typically, such authentication attributes aremaintained in the item authentication block specific to the item. Thesensor data or captured attribute information can be evaluated relativeto the stored information in the item authentication block. A level ofconfirmation of an authentication of the item may be achieved when athreshold number of attributes each reach a corresponding thresholdrelationship and/or match with stored attributes (e.g., stored inblockchain record associated with the item). The threshold number ofattributes and/or the threshold correlation between current and historicinformation may vary depending on which attributes are considered (e.g.,some attributes designated with greater priority) and/or degree ofcorrelation and/or difference between one or more attributes (i.e.,greater correlation may result in reduced “number threshold”, andsimilarly greater difference/disparity would include increased numberthreshold.

When an authentication is not confirmed some embodiments generate andcommunicate a notification to one or more entities (e.g., one or moreparties to the transaction, a manufacturer, a distributor, a serviceprovider providing the access to the authentication system, one or morethird party authentication entities, government and/or law enforcementauthorities, and/or other such entities). The communication can includedisplaying on a display of the authentication system, wirelesslycommunicating to a user interface system, generating an audiblenotification at the authentication system, communicating to a serverthat can communicate with one or more entities, other suchcommunications, or combination of two or more of such communications. Insome instances, a new block may be initiated for the unauthenticateditem, which can be used to track the unauthenticated item and/ortransactions associated with the unauthenticated item.

In some embodiments, the authentication instructions includeinstructions that the user is to follow in orienting the item relativeto the sensor systems. The authentication instructions, for example, cancomprise instructions for how to achieve a physical orientation betweenone or more of the sensor systems of the set of sensor systems and thephysical position of the item. The authentication control circuit canreceive sensor data based on a current orientation, and provide feedbackto the user directing the user to make physical adjustments to achievethe desired physical orientation between the one or more sensor systemsand the item. In some embodiments, the authentication control circuitcontinues to monitor sensor data as the user implements physicaladjustments to the item and/or after movement within the item cavity hasceased, and based on the sensor data can compare that to an intendedorientation to determine whether further adjustments are desired andwhat those adjustments should be. Feedback can be provided to the userbased on the determined additional adjustments directing the user tomake physical adjustments to achieve the desired physical orientationbetween one or more sensor systems and the item. The feedback may beprovided through the user interface 132, communicated to a userinterface system of the user, audibly generated, and/or other suchmethods. For example, in some embodiments, the authentication controlcircuit can cause graphics to be displayed graphically showing thedesired physical movements of the item. In some instances, a genericitem is illustrated with one or more arrows and/or sequences of arrowsdisplayed to show the desired adjustments. Additionally oralternatively, an animation may be played back showing the desiredphysical adjustments to be implemented. In some embodiments, theanimation may be illustrated with a generic item, while in otherinstances, the imaging of the actual item can be utilized to generate arepresentative graphical model of the item and the graphical model canbe displayed with one or more arrows, sequence of arrows, text and/oraudio, and/or animation illustrating the physical adjustments to beimplemented. Further, in some implementations, the authenticationcontrol circuit can provide the user with feedback regarding thephysical movement and/or adjustment of one or more sensor systems inorder to orient the one or more sensor systems relative to a currentorientation or expected orientation of the item.

As described above, in some instances the authentication instructionsdefine how the authentication system is to implement physicaladjustments to the item and/or sensor systems to achieve an intendedorientation. In some embodiments, the authentication control circuit canissue orientation instructions based on the authentication instructionsand/or determination of adjustments to be implemented to achieve aninstructed orientation, to control one or more motors and/or one or moremanipulation systems 130 cooperated with the housing 102. The set ofauthentication instructions may, for example, comprise motorinstructions to control one or more motors to alter a physicalorientation of at least one of the item and/or a sensor system of theset of sensor systems to achieve an intended physical orientationbetween at least the intended sensor system and the item. Additionallyor alternatively, the control circuit can determine a currentorientation (e.g., based on multiple key or distinct features of theitem), determine an orientation difference between the currentorientation and the desired orientation, and determine adjustments toachieve the desired orientation (e.g., rotate 90 degrees about a firstaxis and 45 degrees about a second axis; press a portion down; lift aportion up; move a portion of the item (e.g., lift a flap, open acompartment, etc.); and the like). The authentication control circuitcan use the instructions communicate instructions or control signals tocontrol the motor in accordance with the motor instructions tophysically adjust at least one of the sensor system and/or the item toachieve the intended physical orientation between the sensor system andthe item.

In some embodiments, the authentication control circuit 104 is furtherconfigured to distribute some or all of the current authenticationsensor data, a determined level of authentication (or lack ofauthentication or failure to achieve a threshold level ofauthentication), and other such information to be incorporated into theset of multiple current historic authentication sensor data (which laterbecomes part of the historic authentication sensor data) within the itemauthentication block specific to the item. The incorporation of thecurrent authentication sensor data and/or other data can be used insubsequent authentications of the item. This update, in accordance withthe distributed ledger, can be distributed to ensure accuracy andprevent counterfeiting.

In some embodiments, the authentication system further provides storageof the item prior to and/or after authentication until an authorizeduser retrieves the item. As such, in some implementations, theauthentication system may include one or more doors and/or locks thatclose off the item cavity 112 and prevent access until an authorizationis received. FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of anauthentication locker system 300 having one or more lockers 302, inaccordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, each locker 302is an authentication system 100 and/or includes an authenticationsystem. As such, the lockers include at least one or more authenticationcontrol circuits 104, one or more sensor systems 106, and one or moretransceivers. In some applications, the authentication system 100 in alocker further includes one or motors 122, support 124, and the like. Inother embodiments less than all of the lockers are or include anauthentication system 100. In yet other embodiments, the locker system300 includes a single authentication system 100 separate from thelockers, with lockers 302 available to retain the item afterauthentication. The locker system enables one or more users to place anitem within the item cavity and initiate an authentication. Further,when relevant, the locker system may enable a user to lock an item intothe locker to prevent access until a subsequent time, such as when asubsequent purchaser provides sufficient identifying information to gainaccess to the item. As such, the authentication system facilitiestransactions between users (e.g., a seller can authenticate an item, andthe buyer can receive the authentication prior to completing thepurchase and be assured that the item in the locker is the itempurchased based on the locker being locked). In some instances, theindividual receiving the item may initiate the authentication orinitiate a subsequent authentication as a further reassurance ofauthenticity of the item. A fee may be charged for each transaction,each authentication, a duration maintained in the locker system, othersuch fees, or a combination of such fees.

In some embodiments, one or more of the lockers 302 each include thehousing 102 and a door 304 cooperated with the housing relative to theitem cavity. The door can be configured to prevent and enable access tothe cavity. Typically, a lock system 306 is secured with the housingand/or door and is configured to lock the door to close the item cavityand secure an item within the item cavity. In some instances, a roboticsystem that is inaccessible to users may move an item from a lockerhaving an authentication system to a separate locker that does notinclude an authentication system freeing up the authentication systemfor subsequent use while still ensuring that the previouslyauthenticated item is secure. For example, a robotic system may accessthe item cavity from an access opening in the back of the item cavityand physically move the item to a selected locker.

In some embodiments, the locker system 300 includes one or more userinterfaces 132 enabling one or more users to interact with the lockersystem (e.g., initiate an authentication process, provide confirmationof identifying information (e.g., password, pass code, customer accountID or number, credit card information (e.g., through a credit cardreader as part of the user interface, or manually entered), wirelesscommunication with the user's smartphone or other user interface system(e.g., Bluetooth communication of a passcode, key, or the like), othersuch information, or combination of such information). Further, in someembodiments, the authentication control circuit is communicativelycoupled with the lock system 306 and configure to activate the locksystem to lock or unlock the lock system. For example, theauthentication control circuit can confirm an identification of a user(e.g., selling user, purchasing user, etc.) physically present at alocation of the authentication system (e.g., through the user interface,communications from the user's smartphone, etc.) or receive aconfirmation of the identification of a user purchasing user physicallypresent at the location of the authentication system (e.g., through theuser interface 132, communications with a remote server or service, orother such confirmation). In some instances, the authentication controlcircuit can further receive confirmation of payment by the purchasinguser for the item. The authentication control circuit can activate thelock system 306 to unlock the lock system in response to confirming theidentification of the purchasing user and the payment by the purchasinguser. In some embodiments, the authentication control circuit canfurther update the item authentication block with a confirmation of atransfer of ownership of the item to the purchasing user.

In some instances, the authentication system is simplified to excludethe housing, support 124, motors and/or one or more other componentsdescribed above. Such simplified authentication systems can reduce thecost to provide the authentication service while still providing atleast a threshold level of authentication. In some embodiments, some orall of the authentication system may be implemented through a user'spersonal user interface system 202 (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop,digital camera, etc.). A user or party to a transaction may utilizetheir own personal user interface system 202 to implement at least aportion of an authentication system. For example, a user may not haveaccess to a full authentication system. Such simplified authenticationsystems, however, are configured to provide at least a threshold levelof confirmation of an authenticity relative to one or more thresholdlevels of confidence, determine a lack of authenticity, provide anotification of an inability to confirm an authenticity of an itemwithin a threshold level, and/or provide other information regarding theauthentication process.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary user interface system 202 positionedrelative to an item 126 that a user is attempting to authenticate, inaccordance with some embodiments. FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified blockdiagram of a user interface system 202 showing components of the userinterface system relevant to the authentication of items, in accordancewith some embodiments. Referring to FIGS. 4-5 , the user interfacesystem 202 can include one or more control circuits 506, one or morememory 504, one or more user interface 508 (e.g., display, buttons,touchscreen, audio processing, etc.), one or more transceivers 512,sensor systems 106 of the user interface system, one or morecommunication paths and/or busses 516, and/or other such components. Insome implementations, the control circuit 506 can implement a softwareapplication (APP) and/or other code 502 stored in memory 504 of the userinterface system and/or accessed via wired and/or wireless communicationover one or more distributed networks 118 that can be implemented by oneor more device control circuits 506 (e.g., processors and/ormicroprocessors) of the user interface system 202 operating as at leastpart of the authentication control circuit 104, in accordance with someembodiments. One or more of user interface system sensor systems 106(e.g., camera 106 f, with image processing can be used to capture imagesand evaluate aspects of the item (e.g., dimensions, physicalcharacteristics, color comparisons, etc.), RFID tag reader 106 g,distance measurement system 106 h, and other such sensor systems of theuser interface system) and/or external sensor system 510 incommunication with the user interface system can be utilized to obtainsensor data usable in attempting to authenticate an item. The sensorsystems of the user interface system (and/or external to the userinterface system) can be operated similar to the sensor systems 106 ofthe authentication system 100. The processor operating as theauthentication control circuit can communicate with the blockchaindatabase sources 120 to access the item authentication block specific tothe item 126 attempting to be authenticated.

Based on the sensor data, the authentication control circuit canevaluate sensor data in determining whether a threshold level ofauthentication can be determined. In some embodiments, theauthentication processing directs accesses to a set of interface systemauthentication rules that when applied (e.g., by the control circuit506) enhance the operation of the user interface system and enable theuser interface system to operate as at least part of an authenticationsystem. In applying one or more of the authentication rules, themultiple current authentication sensor data can be compared to the oneor more sets of multiple historic authentication sensor data accessedthrough the blockchain database sources. Based on the comparison, thecontrol circuit can confirm, in authenticating the item, whether and/orwhen each of a threshold number of the multiple current authenticationsensor data is consistent within a threshold variation of acorresponding one of the set of multiple historic authentication sensordata.

The user interface system can further access authentication instructionssimilar to those applied by a fixed authentication system 100. Suchauthentication instructions can control at least part of the userinterface system in activating one or more sensor systems. Suchactivation may be defined in accordance with a predefined sequence toacquire relevant sensor data and/or levels of sensor data. Stillfurther, in some embodiments, the authentication instructions mayprovide instructions to a user regarding an orientation of the itemand/or user interface system. The authentication instructions may causethe control circuit 506 504 to communicate instructions to the userregarding the positioning of the item and/or a positioning of the userinterface system or a sensor system of the user interface systemrelative to a position and/or orientation of the item. In someembodiments one or more sets of authentication instructions can includeinstructions that can be communicated to the user defining how toachieve one or more intended physical orientations between one or moresensor systems of the set of sensor systems and the physical position ofthe item 126. These instructions can be presented through one or moreuser interfaces 508 of the user interface system (e.g., display, touchscreen, audio input/output, lights, etc.). For example, instructions canbe presented on a display of the user interface system, audiblypresented, one or more lights may be generated, animation and/orgraphics may be displayed, and the like.

Further, the authentication control circuit is typically furtherconfigured to provide feedback to a user directing the user to makephysical adjustments to achieve the desired physical orientation betweenone or more sensor systems and the item. In some applications, one ormore imaging sensor systems can capture images that are processed todetermine a physical position of the item 126 (e.g., physical position,orientation, whether some portions of the item are obscured (e.g., byfolds in the item, whether the item is positioned shown a top or abottom, etc.), and determine an orientation of the user interface systemand/or one or more sensor systems of the user interface system relativeto the determined physical position of the item. Based on the determinedorientation of the user interface system, the control circuit 506 candirect the user to move the user interface system toward a desiredposition and/or orientation (e.g., left, right, up, down, closer,further away, clockwise, counter-clockwise, tilt, yaw, etc.). Similarly,other sensor systems can additionally or alternatively be used toprovide feedback (e.g., distance measurement systems can providefeedback to the control circuit, RFID tag reader can provide feedbackregarding whether and when an RFID tag is read, light sensor system canprovide feedback regarding a desired level of ambient light and/orglare, color sensor systems can provide feedback regarding lighting,glare and the like, accelerometer can provide information aboutstability and/or orientation of the user interface system, other suchsensor systems can provide other such feedback). As described above, theinstructions may include displaying one or more graphics, sequence ofimages, animation, text, other such information, or a combination of twoor more of such information. Similarly, the instructions can direct theuse to move and/or alter a portion of or the entire item (e.g., turnover, unfold a portion, lift a flap, open, etc.). This feedback cancontinue until the item and/or the user interface system are moved towithin thresholds of a desired position and orientation is achieved inorder to capture one or more sensor data for one or more sensor systems.

Referring to FIGS. 1-5 , some embodiments apply one or moreauthentication rules in determining whether an item meets one ofmultiple different levels of authentication. These different levelscorrespond to different confidence levels that the item beingauthenticated is the item previously authenticated and corresponding tothe item authentication block. In some embodiments, different sets ofauthentication instructions are available and each set corresponds to adifferent level of accuracy of authentication of the item. At least someof these different sets are defined to correspond to capabilities of atleast one of multiple different types of authentication systems, theavailable sensor systems of an authentication system and/or the expectedprecision from those available sensor systems. One or more systemevaluation rules can be applied to identify available sensor systems andtheir expected precision, which is typically dependent on the quality ofthe sensor system, control over the sensor systems and/or theirpositioning relative to the item, error rates of the sensor systems,processing capabilities of the sensor systems and/or correspondingcontrol circuits, abilities to communicate some or all of the sensordata to an external processing system (e.g., external image processingsystem), other such factors, or typically a combination of two or moreof such factors. As such, the authentication control circuit inobtaining a set of authentication instructions is configured to identifya set of authentication instructions from multiple different sets ofinstructions. Again, some or all of the different sets of authenticationinstructions can each correspond to a different level of accuracy ofauthentication of the item, and at least some correspond to capabilitiesof at least one of multiple different types of authentication systemsand/or sensor systems available to the authentication system.

FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified flow diagram of a process 600 ofproviding distributed item authentication, in accordance with someembodiments. In step 602, sensor data corresponding to an item beingauthenticated is obtained from at least an item identifying sensorsystem of a set of sensor systems. Typically, an initial identificationof the item is obtained based on the sensor data. As described above,the sensor data can include RFID tag sensor data, image data, other suchdata, or a combination of two or more of such sensor data. In step 604,a distributed ledger blockchain database source (e.g., cryptographicdistributed ledger blockchain database source) is accessed and an itemauthentication block specific to the item is acquired. In someimplementations, the blockchain database source is accessed through atransceiver of the authentication system and over a distributed computerand/or communications network 118.

In step 606, one or more sets of authentication instructions areobtained from the item authentication block and can be applied inauthenticating the item. Further, in some embodiments, a previouslyacquired collection of a set of multiple historic authentication sensordata specific to the item is obtained from the item authenticationblock. In step 608, one or more sensor systems of the set of sensorsystems of an authentication system are controlled in accordance withthe set of authentication instructions to capture a collection ofmultiple different current authentication sensor data specific to theitem. The set of authentication instructions, in at least someinstances, specifies a sequence in which to implement multiple sensorsystems of the set of sensor systems. The control of the one or moresensor systems can include the activation, in accordance with thespecified sequence, each of the multiple sensor systems as specified bythe first set of authentication instructions in capturing at least someof the current authentication sensor data. Additionally oralternatively, the set of authentication instructions can includeinstructions for how to achieve a physical orientation between one ormore sensor systems of the set of sensor systems and the physicalposition of the item.

In some embodiments, the authentication instructions can includedifferent instructions corresponding to different capabilities of anauthentication system and/or user interface system being utilized toimplement that authentication. Further, some of these differentinstructions can correspond to different levels of authentication. Thedifferent levels may be based on a cost to perform the authentication,time to perform the authentication, capabilities of the system used toperform the authentication, type of item being authenticated, value ofthe item being authenticated, desired level of confidence of theauthentication, other such factors, or combination of two or more ofsuch factors. As such, some embodiments in obtaining the set ofauthentication instructions identify a set of authenticationinstructions to be implemented from multiple different sets ofinstructions, where the different sets of instructions each correspondsto a different level of accuracy of authentication of the item andcorresponds to capabilities of at least one of multiple different typesof product authentication systems. A set of authentication instructions,in some applications, can be selected to correspond to currentcapabilities of an item authentication system that is to apply the setof authentication instructions.

Some embodiments can include step 610 where feedback is provided tomotors, sensor systems and/or a user, and directs the motor, sensorsystems and/or user to make physical adjustments to achieve the physicalorientation between at least one of the sensor systems and the item.Some authentication instructions can define how the authenticationsystem is to orient the item and/or how a user may make adjustments tothe item and/or one or more sensor systems to achieve one or moreintended positioning of the item to the one or more sensor systemsand/or the one or more sensor systems relative to the item. In someembodiments, one or more sets of authentication instructions mayinclude, for example, motor instructions to control at least one motorto alter a physical orientation of at least one of the item and at leastone sensor system of the set of sensor systems to achieve an intendedphysical orientation between at least the sensor system and the item.One or more motors can be controlled in accordance with the motorinstructions to physical adjust at least one of the sensor systemsand/or the item to achieve the intended physical orientation between atleast the sensor system and the item. Additionally or alternatively, theone or more sets of authentication instructions may include instructionsto a user directing the user to physically manipulate the item, a userinterface system and/or one or more sensor systems in order to achieve adesired positioning and orientation of the item relative to the one ormore sensor systems. The instructions to the user may be audiblyproduced, displayed on a user interface system, displayed on a userinterface, through other methods, or a combination of two or more ofsuch methods. The instructions can include instructions such as but notlimited to moving an item left, right, clock-wise, counter-clockwise,forward, backward, lifting a portion, moving a portion, etc.; moving auser interface left, right, clock-wise, counter-clockwise, forward,backward, up, down, tilt, rotate etc.; causing a sensor system to adjusta zoom, a focus, an orientation, etc.; other such instructions; or acombination of two or more of such instructions.

In step 612, the multiple current authentication sensor data is comparedto the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data. In step 614,each of a threshold number of the multiple current authentication sensordata is confirmed, in authenticating the item, to be consistent within athreshold variation of a corresponding one of the set of multiplehistoric authentication sensor data. As described above, the thresholdnumber and/or type of sensor data may vary depending on the type ofsensor data acquired, the type of sensors used in acquiring the sensordata, the level of accuracy of those sensor systems, and/or other suchfactors. In step 616, the process causes the item authentication blockwithin the distributed ledger blockchain database to be updated. In atleast some instances, the update includes information regarding theconfirmation of authentication of the item or the failure of theauthentication. Further in some embodiments, the updating includescausing the multiple current authentication sensor data to bedistributed to cause the item authentication block within thedistributed ledger blockchain database to be updated to include themultiple current authentication sensor data to be available in one ormore subsequent authentications of the item. In some instances, forexample, the current authentication sensor data is distributed to beincorporated into the set of multiple historic authentication sensordata within the item authentication block specific to the item for usein subsequent authentication of the item.

Some embodiments optionally detected when an item is within a cavity ofa housing of an authentication system. This detection, in someimplementations, is part of step 902 or is a step prior to 902. Thisdetection can be in response to information from one or more sensorsystems. For example, one or more sensor systems may be activated inresponse to detecting a door being opened, a light beam beinginterrupted, a change in weight or the like. Some embodiments detectthat a door, which is cooperated with the housing relative to the cavityand configured to prevent and enable access to the cavity, is closed. Alock system configured to lock the door to close the cavity and securingthe item within the cavity can be activated. The activation of the locksystem may be based on one or more sensor data, one or more activationsby a user (e.g., through a user interface, communication from a userinterface system, etc.).

In some embodiments, the process 600 includes step 620 where theauthentication system confirms an identification of a purchasing userphysically present at a location of an authentication system applyingthe first set of authentication instructions. In some instances, aconfirmation of payment is received by the purchasing user for the item,and a lock system is activated to unlock a lock system in response toconfirming the identification of the purchasing user and the payment bythe purchasing user. Further, the item authentication block is typicallyfurther updated with a confirmation of a transfer of ownership of theitem to the purchasing user.

In some implementations, the item authentication block are growing listsof records, which may be secured using cryptography. Blocks may containa cryptographic hash of the previous block, one or more timestamps, andtransaction data. By design, a blockchain is resistant to modificationof the data. It is an open, distributed ledger that can recordinformation about an item and/or about transactions efficiently and in averifiable and permanent way. For use as a distributed ledger, ablockchain may be typically managed by a peer-to-peer networkcollectively adhering to a protocol for inter-node communication andvalidating new blocks. Once recorded, the data in any given blocktypically cannot be altered retroactively without alteration ofsubsequent blocks, which may be dependent on consensus of a networkmajority. In some embodiments, information added to a block arechronologically and publicly. Further, a blockchain may in someapplications be a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of information(e.g., item identifying information, authentication information,cryptocurrency transactions, etc.).

Some embodiments include an original source of the item (e.g.,manufacturer, distributor, etc.) generating and incorporating at leastan original set of historic authentication data of the historicauthentication sensor data within the item authentication block specificto the item. An original source can capture sensor data as the item ismanufactured and/or assembled and/or after completing the manufacturingor assembly of the item. Further, the original source can cause the itemauthentication block to be created and/or direct a third party to createthe item authentication block, and incorporate at least the originalsensor data. Still further, the original source of the item may obtainover time multiple different sets of sensor data that can beincorporated into the item authentication block for use in subsequentauthentication, confirmation that an item has been authenticated, achain of authenticated ownership can be tracked, and the like. In someembodiments, a manufacturer or other source can provide origininformation (e.g., high-resolution 3D scan image of the product as theproduct enters the supply chain, identifying information, etc.). Thisorigin information is not restricted to exterior information, but caninclude information about an interior of an item or parts of an item(e.g., an interior of a purse, parts of an item that can be separated,etc.). Such origin information can be incorporated in a blockchainrecord exclusive to that item and that is associated with or follows theitem for the lifecycle of the item. In some instances, the origininformation or subsequent authentication information is acquired from anauthentication system 100 that detects or identifies attributes of theitem, which may include flaws and/or other unique aspects or identifiersin the finished item (e.g., captures through image and/or videoanalytics, 3D scans, etc.).

An item can subsequently be verified by performing subsequentauthentication (e.g., imaging, scans, tag reads, etc.) and a comparisonbetween current sensor data, origin authentication information and/orother previously acquired sensor data. Typically, upon authentication ofan item, the corresponding block chain record can be updated. Similarly,when an item is sold or otherwise transferred, the system can update thecorresponding block chain record (e.g., record of a sale, buyeridentifying information, etc.). The authentication can further includeconfirming a seller has a proper chain of title through the block chainrecord. The authentication system can verify that the seller purchasedthe item. As described above, a person can bring an item to anauthentication system and initiate an authentication of the item (e.g.,placing the item into a locker 302). The sensor systems can includemultiple technologies for validating the item (e.g., high-resolution 3Dscanner, RFID reader, holographic label reader, serial number detector,digital watermark discover/scanner, imaging system, QR coded reader,other such sensor systems or combination of two or more of such sensorsystems). For example, a video recognition system can be utilized toidentify flaws that can be compared to historic information. Someembodiments utilize a blockchain for public aspects of the itemauthentication and sidechains for proprietary information (e.g.,attributes, supplier and source information, cost, value, estimates,etc.). The sidechain information is typically linked to the blockchainrecord, but encrypted to limit access (e.g., customer or competitor maynot have access).

Descriptions of some embodiments of blockchain technology are providedwith reference to FIG. 7-12 herein. In some embodiments of the inventiondescribed above, blockchain technology may be utilized to recordauthentications, sensor data, historic sensor data, authenticationfailures, user identifiers, identifiers of parties to a transaction,cost of a transaction, images and/or scans, weight data, manufacturerdate, manufacturer origin information, manufacturer information,certificate of authenticity by third party that is known forauthenticity, serial number, lot number, sources of raw materials usedto make up that item, hologram information, RFID information, bar codeinformation, digital watermarking information (e.g., automaticidentification and data capture (AIDC)), color accuracy (e.g., colorand/or light spectrometer) information, hyperspectral imaginginformation (collects and processes information from across theelectromagnetic spectrum), other such information, or a combination oftwo or more of such information. The authentication system 100, userinterface systems 202, blockchain database sources, and other suchsystems described herein may comprise a node in a distributed blockchainsystem storing a copy of the blockchain record. Updates to theblockchain may comprise sensor data, authentication determination,identification of parties to a transactions, device identifiers, itemidentifier information, authentication locker system identifierinformation, information source information, location information,transaction information, transfer information, other such information,and typically a combination of two or more of such information. one ormore nodes on the system may be configured to initiate a block, and/orincorporate one or more updates into blocks to add to the distributeddatabase.

Distributed database and shared ledger database generally refer tomethods of peer-to-peer record keeping and authentication in whichrecords are kept at multiple nodes in the peer-to-peer network insteadof kept at a trusted party. A blockchain may generally refer to adistributed database that maintains a growing list of records in whicheach block contains a hash of some or all previous records in the chainto secure the record from tampering and unauthorized revision. A hashgenerally refers to a derivation of original data. In some embodiments,the hash in a block of a blockchain may comprise a cryptographic hashthat is difficult to reverse and/or a hash table. Blocks in a blockchainmay further be secured by a system involving one or more of adistributed timestamp server, cryptography, public/private keyauthentication and encryption, proof standard (e.g. proof-of-work,proof-of-stake, proof-of-space), and/or other security, consensus, andincentive features. In some embodiments, a block in a blockchain maycomprise one or more of a data hash of the previous block, a timestamp,a cryptographic nonce, a proof standard, and a data descriptor tosupport the security and/or incentive features of the system.

In some embodiments, a blockchain system comprises a distributedtimestamp server comprising a plurality of nodes configured to generatecomputational proof of record integrity and the chronological order ofits use for content, trade, and/or as a currency of exchange through apeer-to-peer network. In some embodiments, when a blockchain is updated,a node in the distributed timestamp server system takes a hash of ablock of items to be timestamped and broadcasts the hash to other nodeson the peer-to-peer network. The timestamp in the block serves to provethat the data existed at the time in order to get into the hash. In someembodiments, each block includes the previous timestamp in its hash,forming a chain, with each additional block reinforcing the ones beforeit. In some embodiments, the network of timestamp server nodes performsthe following steps to add a block to a chain: 1) new activities arebroadcasted to all nodes, 2) each node collects new activities into ablock, 3) each node works on finding a difficult proof-of-work for itsblock, 4) when a node finds a proof-of-work, it broadcasts the block toall nodes, 5) nodes accept the block only if activities are authorized,and 6) nodes express their acceptance of the block by working oncreating the next block in the chain, using the hash of the acceptedblock as the previous hash. In some embodiments, nodes may be configuredto consider the longest chain to be the correct one and work onextending it. A digital currency implemented on a blockchain system isdescribed by Satoshi Nakamoto in “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer ElectronicCash System” (bitcoin.org/bitcoin. pdf), the entirety of which isincorporated herein by reference.

Now referring to FIG. 7 , an illustration of a blockchain according tosome embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, a blockchain comprises ahash chain or a hash tree in which each block added in the chaincontains a hash of the previous block. In FIG. 7 , block 0 700represents a genesis block of the chain. Block 1 710 contains a hash ofblock 0 700, block 2 720 contains a hash of block 1 710, block 3 730contains a hash of block 2 720, and so forth. Continuing down the chain,block N 790 contains a hash of block N−1. In some embodiments, the hashmay comprise the header of each block. Once a chain is formed, modifyingor tampering with a block in the chain would cause detectabledisparities between the blocks. For example, if block 1 is modifiedafter being formed, block 1 would no longer match the hash of block 1 inblock 2. If the hash of block 1 in block 2 is also modified in anattempt to cover up the change in block 1, block 2 would not then matchwith the hash of block 2 in block 3. In some embodiments, a proofstandard (e.g. proof-of-work, proof-of-stake, proof-of-space, etc.) maybe required by the system when a block is formed to increase the cost ofgenerating or changing a block that could be authenticated by theconsensus rules of the distributed system, making the tampering ofrecords stored in a blockchain computationally costly and essentiallyimpractical. In some embodiments, a blockchain may comprise a hash chainstored on multiple nodes as a distributed database and/or a sharedledger, such that modifications to any one copy of the chain would bedetectable when the system attempts to achieve consensus prior to addinga new block to the chain. In some embodiments, a block may generallycontain any type of data and record. In some embodiments, each block maycomprise a plurality of transaction and/or activity records.

In some embodiments, blocks may contain rules and data for authorizingdifferent types of actions and/or parties who can take action. In someembodiments, transaction and block forming rules may be part of thesoftware algorithm on each node. When a new block is being formed, anynode on the system can use the prior records in the blockchain to verifywhether the requested action is authorized. For example, a block maycontain a public key of an owner of an asset that allows the owner toshow possession and/or transfer the asset using a private key. Nodes mayverify that the owner is in possession of the asset and/or is authorizedto transfer the asset based on prior transaction records when a blockcontaining the transaction is being formed and/or verified. In someembodiments, rules themselves may be stored in the blockchain such thatthe rules are also resistant to tampering once created and hashed into ablock. In some embodiments, the blockchain system may further includeincentive features for nodes that provide resources to form blocks forthe chain. For example, in the Bitcoin system, “miners' are nodes thatcompete to provide proof-of-work to form a new block, and the firstsuccessful miner of a new block earns Bitcoin currency in return.

Now referring to FIG. 8 , an illustration of blockchain basedtransactions according to some embodiments is shown. In someembodiments, the blockchain illustrated in FIG. 8 comprises a hash chainprotected by private/public key encryption. Transaction A 810 representsa transaction recorded in a block of a blockchain showing that owner 1(recipient) obtained an asset from owner 0 (sender). Transaction A 810contains owner's 1 public key and owner 0's signature for thetransaction and a hash of a previous block. When owner 1 transfers theasset to owner 2, a block containing transaction B 820 is formed. Therecord of transaction B 820 comprises the public key of owner 2(recipient), a hash of the previous block, and owner 1's signature forthe transaction that is signed with the owner 1's private key 825 andverified using owner 1's public key in transaction A 810. When owner 2transfers the asset to owner 3, a block containing transaction C 830 isformed. The record of transaction C 830 comprises the public key ofowner 3 (recipient), a hash of the previous block, and owner 2'ssignature for the transaction that is signed by owner 2's private key835 and verified using owner 2's public key from transaction B 220. Insome embodiments, when each transaction record is created, the systemmay check previous transaction records and the current owner's privateand public key signature to determine whether the transaction is valid.In some embodiments, transactions are be broadcasted in the peer-to-peernetwork and each node on the system may verify that the transaction isvalid prior to adding the block containing the transaction to their copyof the blockchain. In some embodiments, nodes in the system may look forthe longest chain in the system to determine the most up-to-datetransaction record to prevent the current owner from double spending theasset. The transactions in FIG. 8 are shown as an example only. In someembodiments, a blockchain record and/or the software algorithm maycomprise any type of rules that regulate who and how the chain may beextended. In some embodiments, the rules in a blockchain may compriseclauses of a smart contract that is enforced by the peer-to-peernetwork.

Now referring to FIG. 9 , a flow diagram according to some embodimentsis shown. In some embodiments, the steps shown in FIG. 9 may beperformed by a processor-based device, such as a computer system, aserver, a distributed server, a timestamp server, a blockchain node, andthe like. In some embodiments, the steps in FIG. 9 may be performed byone or more of the nodes in a system using blockchain for recordkeeping.

In step 901, a node receives a new activity. The new activity maycomprise an update to the record being kept in the form of a blockchain.In some embodiments, for blockchain supported digital or physical assetrecord keeping, the new activity may comprise an asset transaction. Insome embodiments, the new activity may be broadcasted to a plurality ofnodes on the network prior to step 901. In step 902, the node works toform a block to update the blockchain. In some embodiments, a block maycomprise a plurality of activities or updates and a hash of one or moreprevious block in the blockchain. In some embodiments, the system maycomprise consensus rules for individual transactions and/or blocks andthe node may work to form a block that conforms to the consensus rulesof the system. In some embodiments, the consensus rules may be specifiedin the software program running on the node. For example, a node may berequired to provide a proof standard (e.g. proof of work, proof ofstake, etc.) which requires the node to solve a difficult mathematicalproblem for form a nonce in order to form a block. In some embodiments,the node may be configured to verify that the activity is authorizedprior to working to form the block. In some embodiments, whether theactivity is authorized may be determined based on records in the earlierblocks of the blockchain itself.

After step 902, if the node successfully forms a block in step 905 priorto receiving a block from another node, the node broadcasts the block toother nodes over the network in step 906. In some embodiments, in asystem with incentive features, the first node to form a block may bepermitted to add incentive payment to itself in the newly formed block.In step 920, the node then adds the block to its copy of the blockchain.In the event that the node receives a block formed by another node instep 903 prior to being able to form the block, the node works to verifythat the activity recorded in the received block is authorized in step904. In some embodiments, the node may further check the new blockagainst system consensus rules for blocks and activities to verifywhether the block is properly formed. If the new block is notauthorized, the node may reject the block update and return to step 902to continue to work to form the block. If the new block is verified bythe node, the node may express its approval by adding the received blockto its copy of the blockchain in step 920. After a block is added, thenode then returns to step 901 to form the next block using the newlyextended blockchain for the hash in the new block.

In some embodiments, in the event one or more blocks having the sameblock number is received after step 920, the node may verify the laterarriving blocks and temporarily store these block if they passverification. When a subsequent block is received from another node, thenode may then use the subsequent block to determine which of theplurality of received blocks is the correct/consensus block for theblockchain system on the distributed database and update its copy of theblockchain accordingly. In some embodiments, if a node goes offline fora time period, the node may retrieve the longest chain in thedistributed system, verify each new block added since it has beenoffline, and update its local copy of the blockchain prior to proceedingto step 901.

Now referring to FIG. 10 , a process diagram a blockchain updateaccording to some implementations in shown. In step 1001, party Ainitiates the transfer of a digitized item to party B. In someembodiments, the digitized item may comprise a digital currency, adigital asset, a document, rights to a physical asset, etc. In someembodiments, Party A may prove that he has possession of the digitizeditem by signing the transaction with a private key that may be verifiedwith a public key in the previous transaction of the digitized item. Instep 1002, the exchange initiated in step 1001 is represented as ablock. In some embodiments, the transaction may be compared withtransaction records in the longest chain in the distributed system toverify part A's ownership. In some embodiments, a plurality of nodes inthe network may compete to form the block containing the transactionrecord. In some embodiments, nodes may be required to satisfyproof-of-work by solving a difficult mathematical problem to form theblock. In some embodiments, other methods of proof such asproof-of-stake, proof-of-space, etc. may be used in the system. In someembodiments, the node that is first to form the block may earn a rewardfor the task as incentive. For example, in the Bitcoin system, the firstnode to provide prove of work to for block the may earn a Bitcoin. Insome embodiments, a block may comprise one or more transactions betweendifferent parties that are broadcasted to the nodes. In step 1003, theblock is broadcasted to parties in the network. In step 1004, nodes inthe network approve the exchange by examining the block that containsthe exchange. In some embodiments, the nodes may check the solutionprovided as proof-of-work to approve the block. In some embodiments, thenodes may check the transaction against the transaction record in thelongest blockchain in the system to verify that the transaction is valid(e.g. party A is in possession of the asset he/she s seeks to transfer).In some embodiments, a block may be approved with consensus of the nodesin the network. After a block is approved, the new block 1006representing the exchange is added to the existing chain 1005 comprisingblocks that chronologically precede the new block 1006. The new block1006 may contain the transaction(s) and a hash of one or more blocks inthe existing chain 1005. In some embodiments, each node may then updatetheir copy of the blockchain with the new block and continue to work onextending the chain with additional transactions. In step 1007, when thechain is updated with the new block, the digitized item is moved fromparty A to party B.

Now referring to FIG. 11 , a diagram of a blockchain according to someembodiments in shown. FIG. 11 comprises an example of an implementationof a blockchain system for delivery service record keeping. The deliveryrecord 1100 comprises digital currency information, address information,transaction information, and a public key associated with one or more ofa sender, a courier, and a buyer. In some embodiments, nodes associatedthe sender, the courier, and the buyer may each store a copy of thedelivery record 1110, 1120, and 1130, respectively. In some embodiments,the delivery record 1100 comprises a public key that allows the sender,the courier, and/or the buyer to view and/or update the delivery record1100 using their private keys 1115, 1125, and 1135, respectively. Forexample, when a package is transferred from a sender to the courier, thesender may use the sender's private key 1115 to authorize the transferof a digital asset representing the physical asset from the sender tothe courier and update the delivery record with the new transaction. Insome embodiments, the transfer from the seller to the courier mayrequire signatures from both the sender and the courier using theirrespective private keys. The new transaction may be broadcasted andverified by the sender, the courier, the buyer, and/or other nodes onthe system before being added to the distributed delivery recordblockchain. When the package is transferred from the courier to thebuyer, the courier may use the courier's private key 1125 to authorizethe transfer of the digital asset representing the physical asset fromthe courier to the buyer and update the delivery record with the newtransaction. In some embodiments, the transfer from the courier to thebuyer may require signatures from both the courier and the buyer usingtheir respective private keys. The new transaction may be broadcastedand verified by the sender, the courier, the buyer, and/or other nodeson the system before being added to the distributed delivery recordblockchain.

With the scheme shown in FIG. 11 , the delivery record may be updated byone or more of the sender, courier, and the buyer to form a record ofthe transaction without a trusted third party while preventingunauthorized modifications to the record. In some embodiments, theblockchain based transactions may further function to include transfersof digital currency with the completion of the transfer of physicalasset. With the distributed database and peer-to-peer verification of ablockchain system, the sender, the courier, and the buyer can each haveconfidence in the authenticity and accuracy of the delivery recordstored in the form of a blockchain.

Now referring to FIG. 12 , a system according to some embodiments isshown. A distributed blockchain system comprises a plurality of nodes1210 communicating over a network 1220 (e.g., network 118). In someembodiments, the nodes 1210 may be comprise a distributed blockchainserver and/or a distributed timestamp server. In some embodiments, oneor more nodes 1210 may comprise or be similar to a “miner” device on theBitcoin network. Each node 1210 in the system comprises a networkinterface 1211, a control circuit 1212, and a memory 1213.

The control circuit 1212 may comprise a processor, a microprocessor,control logic, other such processing circuitry, or combination of two ormore of such circuitry, and may be configured to execute computerreadable instructions stored on a computer readable storage memory 1213.The computer readable storage memory may comprise volatile and/ornon-volatile memory and have stored upon it a set of computer readableinstructions which, when executed by the control circuit 1212, causesthe node 1210 update the blockchain 1214 stored in the memory 1213 basedon communications with other nodes 1210 over the network 1220. In someembodiments, the control circuit 1212 may further be configured toextend the blockchain 1214 by processing updates to form new blocks forthe blockchain 1214. Generally, each node may store a version of theblockchain 1214, and together, may form a distributed database. In someembodiments, each node 1210 may be configured to perform one or moresteps described with reference to FIGS. 9-10 herein.

The network interface 1211 may comprise one or more network devicesconfigured to allow the control circuit to receive and transmitinformation via the network 1220. In some embodiments, the networkinterface 1211 may comprise one or more of a network adapter, a modem, arouter, a data port, a transceiver, and the like. The network 1220 maycomprise a communication network configured to allow one or more nodes1210 to exchange data. In some embodiments, the network 1220 maycomprise one or more of the Internet, a local area network, a privatenetwork, a virtual private network, a home network, a wired network, awireless network, and the like. In some embodiments, the system does notinclude a central server and/or a trusted third party system. Each nodein the system may enter and leave the network at any time.

With the system and processes shown in, once a block is formed, theblock cannot be changed without redoing the work to satisfy census rulesthereby securing the block from tampering. A malicious attacker wouldneed to provide proof standard for each block subsequent to the onehe/she seeks to modify, race all other nodes, and overtake the majorityof the system to affect change to an earlier record in the blockchain.

In some embodiments, blockchain may be used to support a payment systembased on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willingparties to transact directly with each other without the need for atrusted third party. Bitcoin is an example of a blockchain backedcurrency. A blockchain system uses a peer-to-peer distributed timestampserver to generate computational proof of the chronological order oftransactions. Generally, a blockchain system is secure as long as honestnodes collectively control more processing power than any cooperatinggroup of attacker nodes. With a blockchain, the transaction records arecomputationally impractical to reverse. As such, sellers are protectedfrom fraud and buyers are protected by the routine escrow mechanism.

In some embodiments, a blockchain may use to secure digital documentssuch as digital cash, intellectual property, private financial data,chain of title to one or more rights, real property, digital wallet,digital representation of rights including, for example, a license tointellectual property, digital representation of a contractualrelationship, medical records, security clearance rights, backgroundcheck information, passwords, access control information for physicaland/or virtual space, and combinations of one of more of the foregoingthat allows online interactions directly between two parties withoutgoing through an intermediary. With a blockchain, a trusted third partyis not required to prevent fraud. In some embodiments, a blockchain mayinclude peer-to-peer network timestamped records of actions such asaccessing documents, changing documents, copying documents, savingdocuments, moving documents, or other activities through which thedigital content is used for its content, as an item for trade, or as anitem for remuneration by hashing them into an ongoing chain ofhash-based proof-of-work to form a record that cannot be changed inaccord with that timestamp without redoing the proof-of-work.

In some embodiments, in the peer-to-peer network, the longest chainproves the sequence of events witnessed, proves that it came from thelargest pool of processing power, and that the integrity of the documenthas been maintained. In some embodiments, the network for supportingblockchain based record keeping requires minimal structure. In someembodiments, messages for updating the record are broadcast on abest-effort basis. Nodes can leave and rejoin the network at will andmay be configured to accept the longest proof-of-work chain as proof ofwhat happened while they were away.

In some embodiments, a blockchain based system allows content use,content exchange, and the use of content for remuneration based oncryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing partiesto employ the content without the need to trust each other and withoutthe need for a trusted third party. In some embodiments, a blockchainmay be used to ensure that a digital document was not altered after agiven timestamp, that alterations made can be followed to a traceablepoint of origin, that only people with authorized keys can access thedocument, that the document itself is the original and cannot beduplicated, that where duplication is allowed and the integrity of thecopy is maintained along with the original, that the document creatorwas authorized to create the document, and/or that the document holderwas authorized to transfer, alter, or otherwise act on the document.

As used herein, in some embodiments, the term blockchain may refer toone or more of a hash chain, a hash tree, a distributed database, and adistributed ledger. In some embodiments, blockchain may further refer tosystems that uses one or more of cryptography, private/public keyencryption, proof standard, distributed timestamp server, and inventiveschemes to regulate how new blocks may be added to the chain. In someembodiments, blockchain may refer to the technology that underlies theBitcoin system, a “sidechain” that uses the Bitcoin system forauthentication and/or verification, or an alternative blockchain(“altchain”) that is based on bitcoin concept and/or code but aregenerally independent of the Bitcoin system.

Descriptions of embodiments of blockchain technology are provided hereinas illustrations and examples only. The concepts of the blockchainsystem may be variously modified and adapted for different applications.

In some embodiments, one or more of the exemplary embodiments includeone or more localized IoT devices and controllers. As a result, in anexemplary embodiment, the localized IoT devices and controllers canperform most, if not all, of the computational load and associatedmonitoring and then later asynchronous uploading of sensor data,authentication information, set of multiple historic authenticationsensor data, identifying information, summary data and the like can beperformed by a designated one or more of the IoT devices to one or moreremote servers. In this manner, the computational effort of the overallsystem may be reduced significantly. For example, whenever a localizedmonitoring allows remote transmission, secondary utilization ofcontrollers keeps securing data for other IoT devices and permitsperiodic asynchronous uploading of the summary data to the remoteserver. In addition, in an exemplary embodiment, the periodicasynchronous uploading of such data may include a key kernel indexsummary of the data as created under nominal conditions. In an exemplaryembodiment, the kernel encodes relatively recently acquired intermittentdata (“KRI”). As a result, in an exemplary embodiment, KM includes acontinuously utilized near term source of data, but KM may be discardeddepending upon the degree to which such KRI has any value based on localprocessing and evaluation of such KM. In an exemplary embodiment, KM maynot even be utilized in any form if it is determined that KM istransient and may be considered as signal noise. Furthermore, in anexemplary embodiment, the kernel rejects generic data (“KRG”) byfiltering incoming raw data using a stochastic filter that provides apredictive model of one or more future states of the system and canthereby filter out data that is not consistent with the modeled futurestates which may, for example, reflect generic background data. In anexemplary embodiment, KRG incrementally sequences all future undefinedcached kernals of data in order to filter out data that may reflectgeneric background data. In an exemplary embodiment, KRG incrementallysequences all future undefined cached kernals having encodedasynchronous data in order to filter out data that may reflect genericbackground data.

Further, the circuits, circuitry, systems, devices, processes, methods,techniques, functionality, services, servers, sources and the likedescribed herein may be utilized, implemented and/or run on manydifferent types of devices and/or systems. FIG. 13 illustrates anexemplary system 1300 that may be used for implementing any of thecomponents, circuits, circuitry, systems, functionality, apparatuses,processes, or devices of the system 100, and/or other above or belowmentioned systems or devices, or parts of such circuits, circuitry,functionality, systems, apparatuses, processes, or devices. For example,the system 1300 may be used to implement some or all of theauthentication control circuit 104, the sensor systems 106, databasesources, manipulation systems, user interface, user interface systems202, locker system 300, databases, and/or other such systems,components, circuitry, functionality and/or devices. However, the use ofthe system 1300 or any portion thereof is certainly not required.

By way of example, the system 1300 may comprise a control circuit orprocessor module 1312, memory 1314, and one or more communication links,paths, buses or the like 1318. Some embodiments may include one or moreuser interfaces 1316, and/or one or more internal and/or external powersources or supplies 1340. The control circuit 1312 can be implementedthrough one or more processors, microprocessors, central processingunit, logic, local digital storage, firmware, software, and/or othercontrol hardware and/or software, and may be used to execute or assistin executing the steps of the processes, methods, functionality andtechniques described herein, and control various communications,decisions, programs, content, listings, services, interfaces, logging,reporting, etc. Further, in some embodiments, the control circuit 1312can be part of control circuitry and/or a control system 1310, which maybe implemented through one or more processors with access to one or morememory 1314 that can store instructions, code and the like that isimplemented by the control circuit and/or processors to implementintended functionality. In some applications, the control circuit and/ormemory may be distributed over a communications network (e.g., LAN, WAN,Internet) providing distributed and/or redundant processing andfunctionality. Again, the system 1300 may be used to implement one ormore of the above or below, or parts of, components, circuits, systems,processes and the like.

The user interface 1316 can allow a user to interact with the system1300 and receive information through the system. In some instances, theuser interface 1316 includes a display 1322 and/or one or more userinputs 1324, such as buttons, touch screen, track ball, keyboard, mouse,etc., which can be part of or wired or wirelessly coupled with thesystem 1300. Typically, the system 1300 further includes one or morecommunication interfaces, ports, transceivers 1320 and the like allowingthe system 1300 to communicate over a communication bus, a distributedcomputer and/or communication network 118 (e.g., a local area network(LAN), the Internet, wide area network (WAN), etc.), communication link1318, other networks or communication channels with other devices and/orother such communications or combination of two or more of suchcommunication methods. Further the transceiver 1320 can be configuredfor wired, wireless, optical, fiber optical cable, satellite, or othersuch communication configurations or combinations of two or more of suchcommunications. Some embodiments include one or more input/output (I/O)ports 1334 that allow one or more devices to couple with the system1300. The I/O ports can be substantially any relevant port orcombinations of ports, such as but not limited to USB, Ethernet, orother such ports. The I/O interface 1334 can be configured to allowwired and/or wireless communication coupling to external components. Forexample, the I/O interface can provide wired communication and/orwireless communication (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, RF, and/orother such wireless communication), and in some instances may includeany known wired and/or wireless interfacing device, circuit and/orconnecting device, such as but not limited to one or more transmitters,receivers, transceivers, or combination of two or more of such devices.

In some embodiments, the system may include one or more sensors orsensor systems 1326 to provide information to the system and/or sensorinformation that is communicated to another component, such as theauthentication control circuit 104, authentication processing system210, user interface system 202, database sources 120, other suchsystems, or a combination of two or more of such systems. The sensorscan include substantially any relevant sensor, such as but not limitedto an imaging sensor system, weight sensor system, distance measurementsensors (e.g., optical units, sound/ultrasound units, etc.),optical-based scanning sensors to sense and read optical patterns (e.g.,bar codes), radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader sensorscapable of reading RFID tags in proximity to the sensor, color analysissystem, 3D scanning system, and other such sensors. The foregoingexamples are intended to be illustrative and are not intended to conveyan exhaustive listing of all possible sensors. Instead, it will beunderstood that these teachings will accommodate sensing any of a widevariety of circumstances in a given application setting.

The system 1300 comprises an example of a control and/or processor-basedsystem with the control circuit 1312. Again, the control circuit 1312can be implemented through one or more processors, controllers, centralprocessing units, logic, software and the like. Further, in someimplementations the control circuit 1312 may provide multiprocessorfunctionality.

The memory 1314, which can be accessed by the control circuit 1312,typically includes one or more processor-readable and/orcomputer-readable media accessed by at least the control circuit 1312,and can include volatile and/or nonvolatile media, such as RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory and/or other memory technology. Further, the memory1314 is shown as internal to the control system 1310; however, thememory 1314 can be internal, external or a combination of internal andexternal memory. Similarly, some or all of the memory 1314 can beinternal, external or a combination of internal and external memory ofthe control circuit 1312. The external memory can be substantially anyrelevant memory such as, but not limited to, solid-state storage devicesor drives, hard drive, one or more of universal serial bus (USB) stickor drive, flash memory secure digital (SD) card, other memory cards, andother such memory or combinations of two or more of such memory, andsome or all of the memory may be distributed at multiple locations overthe computer network 118. The memory 1314 can store code, software,executables, scripts, data, content, lists, programming, programs, logor history data, user information, customer information, productinformation, and the like. While FIG. 13 illustrates the variouscomponents being coupled together via a bus, it is understood that thevarious components may actually be coupled to the control circuit and/orone or more other components directly.

In some embodiments, systems and corresponding methods performed by thesystems, provide distributed cryptographic item authentication systems.Some of the systems comprise: a housing; a set of sensor systems securedwith the housing and wherein the set of sensor systems comprises atleast an image capture system; a transceiver configured to enablecommunication over a distributed computer network to access acryptographic distributed ledger blockchain database source; and anauthentication control circuit coupled with non-transitory memorystoring code that when implemented by the authentication control circuitcauses the authentication control circuit to: obtain first sensor datafrom at least a first item identifying sensor system of an item beingauthenticated, and obtain an initial identification of the item based onthe first sensor data; access, through the transceiver, the blockchaindatabase source and acquire an item authentication block specific to theitem; obtain, from the item authentication block, a first set ofauthentication instructions to be applied by the authentication controlcircuit in authenticating the item, and a previously acquired collectionof a set of multiple historic authentication sensor data specific to theitem; control one or more sensor systems of the set of sensor systems inaccordance with the first set of authentication instructions to capturea collection of multiple different current authentication sensor dataspecific to the item; compare the multiple current authentication sensordata to the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data;confirm, in authenticating the item, that each of a threshold number ofthe multiple current authentication sensor data is consistent within athreshold variation of a corresponding one of the set of multiplehistoric authentication sensor data; and cause the item authenticationblock within the distributed ledger blockchain database to be updated toinclude the confirmation of authentication of the item.

Further, some embodiments, provide methods of distributed cryptographicitem authentication, comprising: obtaining, from at least a first itemidentifying sensor system of a set of sensor systems, first sensor datacorresponding to an item being authenticated, and obtaining an initialidentification of the item based on the first sensor data; accessing,through a transceiver and over a distributed computer network, acryptographic distributed ledger blockchain database source andacquiring an item authentication block specific to the item; obtaining,from the item authentication block, a first set of authenticationinstructions to be applied in authenticating the item, and a previouslyacquired collection of a set of multiple historic authentication sensordata specific to the item; controlling one or more sensor systems of theset of sensor systems in accordance with the first set of authenticationinstructions to capture a collection of multiple different currentauthentication sensor data specific to the item; comparing the multiplecurrent authentication sensor data to the set of multiple historicauthentication sensor data; confirming, in authenticating the item, thateach of a threshold number of the multiple current authentication sensordata is consistent within a threshold variation of a corresponding oneof the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data; and causingthe item authentication block within the distributed ledger blockchaindatabase to be updated to include the confirmation of authentication ofthe item.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of othermodifications, alterations, and combinations can also be made withrespect to the above described embodiments without departing from thescope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, andcombinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventiveconcept.

What is claimed is:
 1. A distributed cryptographic item authenticationsystem, comprising: a first sensor system; and an authentication controlcircuit coupled with non-transitory memory storing code that whenimplemented by the authentication control circuit causes theauthentication control circuit to: obtain first sensor data, from thefirst sensor system and obtain an initial identification of an itembeing authenticated based on the first sensor data; access a blockchaindatabase source and acquire an item authentication block specific to theitem based on the initial identification; obtain, from the itemauthentication block, a first set of authentication instructions to beapplied in authenticating the item; control the first sensor system tocapture a collection of multiple different current authentication sensordata specific to the item in response to implementation of one or moreinstructions of the first set of authentication instructions comprisingone or more instructions to achieve a first physical orientation betweenthe item and the first sensor system; and confirm an authentication ofthe item based on one or more of the multiple current authenticationsensor data relative to a corresponding one or more of a set of multiplehistoric authentication sensor data.
 2. The item authentication systemof claim 1, wherein authentication control circuit is further configuredto cause the item authentication block within the blockchain database tobe updated to include the multiple current authentication sensor data tobe available in subsequent authentication of the item.
 3. The itemauthentication system of claim 1, wherein the first set ofauthentication instructions specifies a sequence in which to implementmultiple sensor systems of a set of sensor systems, and wherein theauthentication control circuit is configured to control the multiplesensor systems to activate, in accordance with the specified sequence,each of the multiple sensor systems as specified by the first set ofauthentication instructions in capturing at least some of the currentauthentication sensor data.
 4. The item authentication system of claim3, wherein the authentication control circuit is further configured todistribute the current authentication sensor data to be incorporatedinto the set of multiple historic authentication sensor data within theitem authentication block specific to the item for use in subsequentauthentication of the item.
 5. The item authentication system of claim1, wherein the authentication control circuit is configured to providefeedback to a user directing the user to make physical adjustments toachieve the first physical orientation between at least the first sensorsystem and the item.
 6. The item authentication system of claim 1,further comprising: a motor communicatively coupled with theauthentication control circuit; wherein the first set of authenticationinstructions comprises motor instructions to control at least the motorto alter a physical orientation of at least one of the item and thefirst sensor system to achieve the first physical orientation betweenthe first sensor system and the item, and wherein the authenticationcontrol circuit is configured to control at least the motor inaccordance with the motor instructions to physically adjust at least oneof the item and the first sensor system to achieve the first physicalorientation between at least the item and the first sensor system. 7.The item authentication system of claim 1, wherein the authenticationcontrol circuit in obtaining the first set of authenticationinstructions is configured to identify the first set of authenticationinstructions from multiple different sets of instructions, wherein thedifferent sets of instructions each corresponds to a different level ofaccuracy of authentication of the item and corresponds to capabilitiesof at least one of multiple different types of item authenticationsystems.
 8. The item authentication system of claim 7, wherein anoriginal set of historic authentication sensor data of the set ofmultiple historic authentication sensor data within the itemauthentication block specific to the item is generated by an originalsource of the item.
 9. The item authentication system of claim 1,wherein the authentication control circuit is further configured to:confirm an identification of a purchasing user, receive confirmation ofpayment by the purchasing user for the item and update the itemauthentication block with a confirmation of a transfer of ownership ofthe item to the purchasing user in response to confirm an identificationof the purchasing user and the receiving the confirmation of payment.10. The item authentication system of claim 1, wherein the first sensorsystem comprises an image capture system configured to capture an imageof the item.
 11. A method of providing distributed cryptographic itemauthentication, comprising: obtaining, from a first sensor system, firstsensor data and obtaining an initial identification of an item beingauthenticated based on the first sensor data; accessing a blockchaindatabase source and acquiring an item authentication block specific tothe item based on the initial identification; obtaining, from the itemauthentication block, a first set of authentication instructions to beapplied in authenticating the item; controlling the first sensor tocapture a collection of multiple different current authentication sensordata specific to the item in response to implementation of one or moreinstructions of the first set of authentication instructions comprisingone or more instructions to achieve a first physical orientation betweenthe item and the first sensor system; confirming an authentication ofthe item based on one or more of the multiple current authenticationsensor data relative to a corresponding one or more of a set of multiplehistoric authentication sensor data.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: causing the item authentication block within the blockchaindatabase to be updated to include the multiple current authenticationsensor data to be available in subsequent authentication of the item.13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first set of authenticationinstructions specifies a sequence in which to implement multiple sensorsystems of a set of sensor systems, and activating, in accordance withthe specified sequence, each of the multiple sensor systems as specifiedby the first set of authentication instructions in capturing at leastsome of the current authentication sensor data.
 14. The method of claim13, further comprising: distributing the current authentication sensordata to be incorporated into the set of multiple historic authenticationsensor data within the item authentication block specific to the itemfor use in subsequent authentication of the item.
 15. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising: providing feedback to a user and directingthe user to make physical adjustments to achieve the first physicalorientation between at least the first sensor system and the item. 16.The method of claim 11, further comprising: controlling a motor inaccordance with one or more authentication instructions of the first setof authentication instructions altering the physical orientation of atleast one of the item and the first sensor system to achieve the firstphysical orientation between the first sensor system and the item. 17.The method of claim 11, wherein the obtaining the first set ofauthentication instructions comprises identifying the first set ofauthentication instructions from multiple different sets ofinstructions, wherein the different sets of instructions eachcorresponds to a different level of accuracy of authentication of theitem and corresponds to capabilities of at least one of multipledifferent types of item authentication systems.
 18. The method of claim11, further comprising: detecting the item is at least partially withina cavity of a housing of an authentication system and initiating theobtaining the first sensor data.
 19. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: confirming an identification of a purchasing user; receivingconfirmation of payment by the purchasing user for the item; and causingthe item authentication block to be updated with a confirmation of atransfer of ownership of the item to the purchasing user.
 20. Adistributed item authentication system, comprising: a housing; a firstsensor system cooperated with the housing; and an authentication controlcircuit coupled with non-transitory memory storing code that whenimplemented by the authentication control circuit causes theauthentication control circuit to: obtain first sensor data, from thefirst sensor system and obtain an initial identification of an itembeing authenticated based on the first sensor data; access a blockchaindatabase source and acquire an item authentication block specific to theitem; obtain, from the item authentication block, a first set ofauthentication instructions to be applied in authenticating the item;control the first sensor system to capture a collection of multipledifferent current authentication sensor data specific to the item inresponse to implementing one or more of the first set of authenticationinstructions to achieve a first physical orientation between the itemand the first sensor system; confirm, in authenticating the item, thateach of a threshold number of the multiple current authentication sensordata is within a threshold variation of a corresponding one of the setof multiple historic authentication sensor data.